Archive for January, 2010

Miffed Letter: re “Fife woman dies after taking ‘bubbles’”

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Sent to The Courier after the publication of this article about a Fife resident who died in connection with mephedrone:

“Dear Sir/Madam,

the recent spate of hospitalisations of people who have suffered medical emergencies after taking mephedrone, also known as mcat or bubbles, is a matter of great concern. However, I was troubled by the comment from Chief Superintendent Alistair McKeen that people should not try legal highs because they are unresearched. Indeed, there is very little, if any scientific research done on mephedrone and no-one has any idea of its long-term effects on the human body, although early signs suggest it is worse than ketamine or MDMA. But the reason people are taking mephedrone over ketamine and MDMA is because our government has made those two drugs illegal.

So instead of encouraging people to take care of their health and to ensure that whatever they do to their own bodies they do so in as safe a manner as possible, our drugs laws are actively encouraging people to take untested, unknown substances over well-researched chemicals that are objectively less lethal than horse-riding. This is a ludicrous situation to be in. We must cease our moralising as a nation and treat drug use as the health issue that it is instead of an excuse to lock up hedonists and the emotionally vulnerable.

Yours faithfully,

Sarah McCulloch

External Relations Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy UK
http://www.ssdp.org.uk”

See also this very interesting analysis from Liberalconspiracy.org about the media frenzy on mephedrone and how it’s factually dodgy: “The press and impossibility of legal highs“. Keep watching the press on this issue.

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Dispatches from Copenhagen II: Being a Protest Medic

Monday, January 25th, 2010

I’ve just got an article published about my experiences in Copenhagen in The Mule. Here’s an excerpt:

Despite failure at the Summit to reach any meaningful agreement, there were positives to be drawn from Copehagen. The mass convergence of social movements from across the globe showed that there are people who won’t just wait for our leaders to hammer out ineffective solutions, but who are putting forward those solutions themselves and refusing to be silenced.

I went with Climate Camp with the international network Climate Justice Action. Our plan was to use direct action to disrupt the COP-15: to invade the Bella Centre where talks were being held and to establish a “People’s Assembly” at the Reclaim Power demonstration on the 16th December. The aim was to show political and corporate elites that power is vested in the masses and that change cannot be dictated top-down.

View the rest of the article here.

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Polyphasic Sleeping Diary 2010: Week 1

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

In January 2nd of this year, I once again began the transition to polyphasic sleeping. Polyphasic sleeping is a sleeping pattern where you don’t sleep through the night in a block (monophasic sleeping) but take a series of naps throughout the day or night. There are a variety of polyphasic sleeping styles, from the Everyman, which is a block of three hours followed by three thirty minute naps during the day, to the Uberman schedule, which consists of six twenty minute naps spaced four hours apart.

I had previously lived on the Uberman schedule for eight months in 2009: you can read about those experiences, as well as more about the sleeping schedule itself, here. It has been an interesting learning experience going through transitioning to polyphasic sleeping a second time, and I feel that I have learnt many new things this time round.

Below is my diary for the first seven days. As you can guess from the dates, I have only posted the first part of my diary. Further parts will be posted in due course.

January 2nd:

Got up at 10am today. Still half-recovering from epic New Year. Currently 84kg, low-carb vegan, no sleep debt.

12pm: First nap taken with little effort. Not tired, so it was more setting the environment and mind-space for future naps. Checked the clock halfway through exactly like I used to, so I suspect that I may get back into this reasonably quickly.

4pm: Much comfier nap. Body still tense, especially the neck, but could definitely feel myself dropping off slightly.

8pm: Checked clock with only four minutes to go. Starting to sleep deeper. Feel slightly groggy on getting up, but also very slightly spacey.

January 3rd:

12am: Starting to feel much more tired now, and I’m yawning quite a lot. Checked clock with only seven minutes to go, and again at 2:31. Felt quite restless for the final three minutes. I also slept with the light on – not sure whether this is a good idea, in order to not fall asleep monophasically, or a bad idea, because it prevents me napping properly. Hmm. Very much wanting to go to bed right now and stay there.

1:25am: Feeling a bit tired but quite perky right now. I think it’s because I went downstairs into our cold, cold kitchen and made a drink. Might be a useful way of staying awake.

4:26am: Definitely felt that one. Have no recollection of switching the clock off. Woke up somewhat confused and stumbled next door to wake up flatmate. Am somewhat irritable. The car alarm that is going off outside probably isn’t helping.

8:25am: Feel dreadful. No recollection of switching alarm off – but am awake and about. Feel unsteady on my feet and given to stumbling and staggering everywhere, but that I am moving is progress.

10:19am: Have had breakfast and am now trying to write an article for a local newspaper. It is not going well, my thoughts are all over the place, but words are going down on the paper and I do feel much more with it than I did at 8.

12:33:pm: Don’t remember switching alarm off or sleeping. Heart was racing as I went to wake up flatmate. Have lost a kilogram in weight. Now feel dopey but manageable.

1:33pm: I feel really quite awake now. I think the euphoria is starting to kick in…

1:50pm: Not sure if this is related to polyphasic sleeping, but I can’t eat the same size meals I could only two days ago. I have to leave a small portion to be consumed later. Strange.

4:30pm: Checked clock halfway through but no recollection of waking up or getting up.

6:42pm: Started to fulflil action items. A good sign?

January 4th:

12am: Flatmate was unexpectedly away and I overslept by two hours. Was woken up by a different coincidental alarm.

4:26am: No recollection of napping. Do not feel rested.

6:52pm: Took advantage of flatmate’s absence to sleep over intentionally at 5am. Woke up at 9 but went to sleep again until 10:30am. Took 12pm nap and slept consciously but polyphasically. 4pm nap was put off by 40 minutes as a bike trip unexpectedly took three hours, and was also taken outside the house for the first time. Slept well, although checked clock three times. It will be interesting to see what impact the level of exercise I took today will have on my schedule. Because of the oversleeping and late sleeping, I feel somewhat tired and fatigued.

January 5th:

12:33am: 8pm and 12am naps taken uneventfully. Feel mostly alert and spent much of 12am nap thinking about an interrupted task I was performing. May be due to adaptation, maybe be due to epic oversleep. We shall see at 4am.

10:23am: Slept straight through 4:30am alarm and slept through til 9am. Took another “nap” and ended up having a vivid dream about being in a computer game until woken up by flatmate at 10:20am. Oh, the fail. Feel drowsy, fatigued and terrible.

6:01pm: Slept badly for 4pm nap. Restless, and got up with two minutes to go. My room has suddenly become very hot though, which may be contributing to this. Perhaps if I sleep elsewhere I may be more relaxed.

January 6th:

9:53am: 4am was a definite struggle, and I went to bed at 7am exhausted, slept through the alarm and woke up at 9:30am. While oversleeping by two hours isn’t quite the fail of the day before, I think the strategy of sleeping in my own bed is definitely failing. I will shift into the spare bedroom for a bit and see what happens. I’m also starting to develop back pain every time I oversleep. Another incentive, I guess.

Oversleeping three nights in four seems to suggest that we’re doing something wrong, but even with the oversleeping, I got 4 hours sleep cumulatively in the past 24 hours and feel fine (now I’m up). Polyphasic sleeping is clearly starting to have its effects, it’s just bloody hard to persuade yourself at 7am that you really need to stay awake. I think this is really something I have to think about deeply.

12:28pm: Nap very restful. Feel much better, and got up with a little reluctance. Not a good thing for adapting, but good for the daytime naps.

8:26pm: Took 4pm well. 8pm left me with racing heart and some reluctance to get up.

January 7th:

1:24pm: Midnight nap was taken in another person’s house and went well. Unfortunately, I was prevailed upon to take a sleeping tablet at 1am and was told that it would wear off by 4am. To judge by the way I fell asleep for 8 hours and woke up at 12:30am, I’m guessing that was a pack of lies.

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Prosecuting Tony Blair: problems and pitfalls.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

There has been a great deal of calling for Tony Blair to be prosecuted for war crimes for the part he played in taking us to war in Iraq. However, I would much rather see him tried for crimes against peace. Many of the cases that have been built against Tony Blair have focussed on what our armed forces in Iraq did once they went in, i.e. torturing prisoners, attacking civilians etc. Why can’t we prosecute him for starting the war in the first place? The answer is that that isn’t actually illegal yet.

The law you’re looking for is the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which Britain ratified in 2001, which states that wars of aggression are “most serious crimes of concern to the international community”. A war of aggression is a war fought for any reason other than self-defense – which is why the Weapons of Mass Destruction in 45 minutes were so important, and why when Tony Blair admitted on television last month he would’ve gone to war, WMD or not, he effectively indicted himself. Undoubtedly Blair believed he was going to war for reasons that were right. But the fact is that “God and George Bush wanted it and Saddam is evil” aren’t good enough.

However, currently the ICC has no power to enforce this crime: under Article 5.2 of the Rome Statute, “the Court shall exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression once a provision is adopted in accordance with articles 121 and 123 defining the crime and setting out the conditions under which the Court shall exercise jurisdiction with respect to this crime. Such a provision shall be consistent with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.” Such a provision has yet to be adopted because no-one has been able to agree all the issues surrounding such a law, like “how do you define aggression?” and “who should have the power to determine what constitutes an act of aggression?” Several states with somewhat violent backgrounds fear the consequences of the UN definitions of aggression actually being enforceable, and would rather keep such powers in the non-binding UN Resolution system and the Security Council.

Unfortunately for Tony Blair and happily for democracy, liberty, and Iraqis, there is some movement on this front. In May 2010, representatives of the signatories to the Rome Statute are having a “Review Conference”. A proposal put forward by Liechenstein on behalf of the Special Working Group defines aggression as “the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations”, which is ominous for Tony Blair, George Bush, and indeed, Barack Obama. The second half of this proposal is less helpful, as there are several provisions which allow the Security Council to delay or prevent any prosecution – the Security Council, of course on which both the UK and the US wield a veto. The Chilcot Inquiry is amassing evidence that will be very useful for pressuring any reluctant states to support prosecution under the sheer weight of the facts. It remains to be seen if this proposal would be passed. If they do, Tony Blair could be prosecuted for crimes against peace shortly thereafter.

Which all sounds rather far away and unlikely. Even before then though, it just takes someone with enough money to bring a court case for crimes committed in war and under the principle of universal jurisdiction Tony Blair could be tried pretty much anywhere in the world, including here. But wouldn’t it be so more satisfying if he was tried for the war itself?

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Interview with Ewan Hoyle of Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

An interview by Andi Sidwell with Ewan Hoyle, founder of the Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform, at the Students for Sensible Drug Policy UK National Conference 2009. Listen carefully and you can hear me walking down the corridor behind them talking, um, rather loudly. :)

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Overcoming Kaam: Sikhism and homosexuality

Monday, January 11th, 2010

God Made the Rainbow is a segment promoting an inclusive spirituality for all. For other articles, visit God Made the Rainbow here.

Sikhism as a religion was founded about 500 years ago, and as such, it is one of the youngest of the world religions. The religion originates from the northern region of the Indian Subcontinent known as Punjab, a region now shared between India and Pakistan. The founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469, and the last of the 10 living Gurus, Guru Gobind Singh, died in 1708. The Sikh scriptures are contained in a volume known as the Guru Granth Sahib, and it consists of the teachings of contemporary Hindu and Muslim saints as well as those of the Sikh gurus. The Guru Granth Sahib is a Guru in its own right and it is accorded the same level of respect amongst Sikhs as that given to the living Gurus.

Sikhism believes in tolerance, equality and acceptance of all people, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexuality. Sexuality is deemed to be something which is part of the natural human state. However, excessive sexual desire is referred to within Sikhism as ‘lust’ or ‘Kaam’, and Kaam forms one of the Five Thieves of Sikhism (the Sikh equivalent of the Seven Deadly Sins in Christianity). Kaam is seen to be a destructive force and one which needs to be overcome. Sex outside of marriage is discouraged within Sikhism, although no reference is made to that within the Guru Granth Sahib. Furthermore, the Guru Granth Sahib makes no specific reference to homosexuality, although it considers all of nature to have been created by God’s grace. As the scientific world has now come to accept that homosexuality can be found in the natural world, and Sikhism accepts science as being compatible with the faith, it is possible to argue that Sikhism is accepting of homosexuality.

One of the corner-stones of Guru Nanak’s teachings was that of ‘Grishti Jeevan’, or ‘living the life of the householder’, and life within a family unit is highly encouraged, as is marriage. A monogamous relationship within marriage is seen as the Sikh ideal. The Sikh marriage ceremony is comprised of a hymn of 4 verses known as the ‘Laavan’. Each verse is read aloud, and the couple walk around the Guru Granth Sahib whilst the verse is repeated in song. At the end of the fourth verse and circumambulation, the couple are married. The four verses of the Lavaan are non-gender specific. The only references made to gender are of the two human souls of the people entering the marriage as being the bride and God as being the bridegroom, and so the use of gender within the Lavaan is solely metaphorical. Although the Lavaan was composed over 400 years ago, the practice of Sikh marriage by following the Lavaan was only institutionalized in 1909 when the Anand Marriage Act of India legalised the ceremony. Prior to that, the Hindu ceremony of circumambulation of a fire was the only legally recognized marriage ceremony for Sikhs in India.

It would be wrong to assume that the Guru Granth Sahib has failed to mention homosexuality due to the ignorance of the Sikh Gurus to such activity. Islam was well-established in Punjab by the time that Guru Nanak was born, and the Quran makes explicit reference to homosexual activity. In fact, there were openly-homosexual and well-known holy men in the Indian Subcontinent at the time that the Guru Granth Sahib was being compiled. The fact that the Gurus did not discuss homosexuality in the Sikh scriptures suggests that such issues were inconsequential in a spiritual belief system where a direct relationship with God is paramount and that Kaam is a destructive force to all people, regardless of sexuality.

As the Laavan are non-gender specific, it is theoretically possible to have a same-sex marriage within the Sikh religion. There have been a number of edicts in recent years by the Jathedar (Head Priest) of the Akal Takht (the temporal base for the Sikh religion in Amritsar) which have prohibited the consecration of same-sex marriages in Sikh places of worship, but there is a long history of such edicts being ignored by the Sikh community in India and globally. It should be noted that the Sikh religion does not believe in a priesthood system due to the emphasis on a direct relationship with God in the absence of any interceder. Another interesting thing to note is the fact that the Jathedar has felt it necessary to make such an edict in the first place – if the Laavan were gender specific and if homosexuality was prohibited outright by Guru Granth Sahib, such edict would be pointless.

Although Sikhism is a liberal religion, Punjabi culture is extremely conservative. This has lead to instances where some Sikhs hold conservative views which stem from Punjabi culture but which the individual has come to believe to be a part of Sikhism. An area where this disparity is evident is that of sexuality, with Punjabi culture being very homophobic whilst Sikhism believes in tolerance of all people. Gristhi Jeevan, or living the life of a householder, applies equally to same-sex relationships as it does to heterosexual relationships. There are no barriers to maintaining a family lifestyle within a same-sex relationship, for example, by adopting children. Same-sex marriages are possible within Sikhism, but due to the possible reluctance of Sikh places of worship in consecrating such a marriage, a monogamous relationship is to be preferred as an alternative.

If you would like to find out more about Sikhism and its approach to homosexuality, as well explore the dichotomy between the Sikh religion and Punjabi culture, please feel free to visit Sarbat – the online resource for LGBT Sikhs.

Jay Singh is the moderator of Sarbat.net.

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Argh!

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Woops, have accidentally deleted my blog theme after upgrading WordPress. *hurriedly dials up web developer friend*

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“Re-evaluating Family Matters”

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

“…the government needs to straighten out the arbitrariness of a system that puts blood relations over emotional relations. That isn’t to say that my actual parents and my actual sister aren’t very important to me, but right now, I feel more responsibility towards my housemate, who’s parents live 250 miles way than to my parents who live 1 mile away. If Dad is ill, Mum looks after him, and I provide support to both of them. My housemate gets ill, and its me on the front line. A past housemate commented that myself and current housemate alternated parenting roles, which I find to be true, and only odd because everyone insists this is not how things should be.”

– Graham Martin, Graham’s Grumbles

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Letter to Gerald Kaufman MP re battery hen welfare

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Dear Mr. Kaufman,

As I am sure you are aware, the barren battery cage is due to be banned across the UK and the EU from 2012. This is an excellent move in the right direction for greater laying hen welfare.

However, I write to express my concern about the enriched caged system which offers birds only fractional more room. Most of these eggs end up in processed food products and it is therefore difficult for consumers to clearly see that they are purchasing eggs from caged birds. I would like to see clear labelling on food products containing eggs from caged hens and would like to see greater incentives for British free range and barn farmers through Government aid. EDM 234: PRODUCTION METHOD LABELLING ON PROCESSED FOODS CONTAINING EGG AND EGG DERIVATIVES supports the barren cage ban and the provision of such labelling.

I notice that you are not a signatory to this motion. I would appreciate it if you could please take a moment to sign it, and if you could please advise me if you are doing anything to improve labelling and support British free range and barn egg producers.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah McCulloch

Visit the Battery Hen Welfare Trust for more information.

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“Muslim profiling is a recipe for insecurity”

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

“In both Britain and America demands for profiling all Muslims at airports are increasing in volume. This mindset not only fails to understand that most Muslims around the world detest al-Qaeda, but this outlook also cannot comprehend how terrorists are always one step ahead of the game. If it is Muslim-sounding names that are to be stopped, would a name like Richard Reid – the infamous shoe bomber – have been detected? If it is Asian men that are to be stopped, then we will see an increase in white men recruited for terror?

After all, al-Qaeda’s English spokesperson is Adam Gadahn, a white American. If it is men who are stopped, we will see women terrorists emerge. Let us not forget Palestinian groups’ repeated use of single women as suicide bombers. Do not underestimate the power of terrorists to recruit serving airline pilots and other aviation personnel. Where there is a will, there will always be a way.”

- Ed Husain, Muslim profiling is a recipe for insecurity, Guardian.co.uk

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